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A trans -acting protein interacting with a specific sequence motif proximal to the transcriptional start site of the l -asparaginase promoter has been observed previously (E. Vincze, J. M. Reeves, E. Lamping, K. J. F. Farnden, and P. H. S. Reynolds, Plant Mol. Biol. 26:303-311, 1994). Gel retardation experiments in which protein extracts of Mesorhizobium loti and developing nodules were used suggested a bacterial origin for the repressor binding protein ( rep2037 ). Nodulation tests were performed by using different Fix − Tn 5 mutants of M. loti. Analyses of these mutants revealed a correlation between the presence of Mesorhizobium in the nodule-like structures and the ability of nodule protein extracts to bind the repressor binding domain (RBD). Through the use of mutated RBD sequences, the RBD sequence was identified as CTAAAAT. The repressor protein was isolated from M. loti NZP2037 by multiple chromatographic procedures and affinity separation by using concatemers of RBD attached to magnetic beads. Sequencing of the recovered protein resulted in identification of the repressor protein as the sarcosine oxidase α subunit. This was confirmed by expression of the gene encoding the M. loti α subunit of sarcosine oxidase in Escherichia coli. When the expressed peptide was bound to RBD, the gel retardation result was identical to the result obtained with rep2037 from M. loti strain NZP2037.

It is shown here that the phosphate groups at the cos ends of phage lambda DNA are not a prerequisite for in vitro packaging. Molecules with phosphatase-treated cos ends are packaged in vitro as efficiently as native lambda DNA. This observation can be used for an alternative strategy to improve the efficiency of gene library construction, since cos-cos ligation decreases in vitro encapsidation and infectivity. Dephosphorylated cos ends and a new phasmid vector lambda pGY97 have been used to construct a representative gene bank of alfalfa in a Mcr- (5-methylcytosine restriction deficient) Escherichia coli host strain. These recombinant clones can be propagated as phages or more conveniently as plasmids in recA- E. coli, to prevent possible homologous recombination events between repetitive sequences of the insert that would otherwise interfere with clone stability. The 5-19-kb inserts can be easily recloned as plasmids from the recombinant phasmids with simple EcoRI digestion and re-ligation. This observation also implies that the construction of gene libraries in cosmid vectors can be made more efficient if cos-cos ligates were cleaved by lambda terminase just before in vitro packaging.

A new nodule-specific gene, Nms-25 (nodulin-25), was identified in cDNA clones isolated from a nodule-specific cDNA library of Medicago sativa. The first transcript of this gene appeared 9 days after inoculation of the roots with Rhizobium meliloti. The time of expression and the quantity of the transcripts of the Nms-25 gene was similar to that of leghemoglobin genes suggesting a similar regulation. A protein of 246 amino acids could be deduced from a full-length cDNA clone. The first 24 amino acids at the N-terminal end of this protein formed a signal sequence which might direct membrane transport into the peribacteroid space. Using different predictive methods the signal sequence cleaved protein was tentatively predicted to be a water-soluble enzyme, but not hydrolase.

Linkage maps of R. meliloti 2011 (Rm2011), R. meliloti 41 (Rm41) and R. leguminosarum 300 (R1300), all constructed by means of P1 plasmid-mediated recombination, were compared. Recombination between the two R. meliloti strains occurred at high frequency but was barely detectable in matings between R1300 and Rm41. When co-inheritance data for the three strains were transformed into additive map distances the arrangement of markers showed striking similarities. Each of eight R68.45-primes, carrying different sections of the Rm2011 chromosome, suppressed only those markers of both R1300 and Rm41 which had the same phenotype and map location. Each of these R-primes promoted polarized chromosome transfer in an anticlockwise direction in Rm41, starting from the region corresponding to that carried on the plasmid.

A total of 5 Nod- and 57 Fix- symbiotic mutants of Rhizobium meliloti strain 41 have been isolated after either nitrosoguanidine or Tn5 transposition mutagenesis. Chromosomal locations of mutations in 1 Nod- and 11 Fix- derivatives were ascertained by transferring the chromosome (mobilized by plasmid R68.45), in eight fragments, into symbiotically effective recipients and testing the recombinants for symbiotic phenotype. Alternatively, the kanamycin resistance marker of Tn5 was mapped. In five mutants the fix alleles were localized on different chromosomal regions, but six other fix mutations and one nod mutation tested did not map onto the chromosome. It was shown that the chromosome-mobilizing ability (Cma+) of R68.45 was not involved in the mobilization of genes located extrachromosomally. Moreover, Cma- derivatives of R68.45 could mobilize regions of the indigenous plasmid pRme41b but not chromosomal genes. Thus, mobilization of a marker by Cma- R68.45 indicates its extrachromosomal location. With a 32P-labeled DNA fragment carrying Tn5 as a hybridization probe, it was shown that in five extrachromosomally located Tn5-induced fix mutants and one nod mutant Tn5 was localized on plasmid pRme41b. This is in agreement with the genetic mapping data.

Using a simple enrichment procedure, we isolated an R-prime derivative of plasmid R68.45 carrying a 17.8-megadalton segment of the Rhizobium meliloti 41 chromosome. The chromosomal segment carried on this plasmid (pGY1) includes the markers cys-24+, cys-46+, and att16-3. Plasmid pGY1 mobilized the chromosome in a polarized way starting from the region of homology, but cannot promote chromosome transfer from other sites. The att16-3 site on pGY1 allowed the integration of phage 16-3 into pGY1, and a composite plasmid of 91.8 megadaltons was formed. This vector (pGY2) is suitable for the introduction of Rhizobium bacteriophage 16-3 into other gram-negative bacteria.

A histone H3 gene was isolated from a dicotyledonous plant, alfalfa (Medicago sativa). The sequence analysis of this gene revealed no obvious GC preference in its codon usage. Apart from containing most of the typical consensus sequences found in both animal and plant histone genes, the alfalfa H3 gene exhibits distinct structural features such as (1) the unusual location of two GATCC motifs in its 5′ flanking sequence, (2) the existence of a CGCGGATC on the nonsense strand at position −232, (3) the existence of a long palindromic structure, and (4) several polyadenylation signal-like sequences in the 3′ flanking region. There are about 160 copies of histone H3 gene in alfalfa tetraploid genome. Using the alfalfa H3 gene as a probe to study the pattern of histone H3 transcripts in the alfalfa, we found that the H3 RNAs are undetectable in leaves, more in stems than in roots, and highest in somatic embryos. Moreover, the RNA products of H3 genes in all alfalfa tissues tested show unusually long nontranslated region compared to those of animal histone genes. An additional high molecular weight species of H3 transcript was detected only in somatic embryos.

Two nodule specific genes have been isolated from nodule c-DNA clone bank of Medicago sativa using differential hybridization. One of the two genes was leghemoglobin which showed high level of sequence homology to leghemoglobin from other legumes. The second c-DNA gene, nodulin-1 was also sequenced and revealed two direct repeats RA and RB. Repeat RB consists of three tandem copies of 18 amino acids. From the genomic library of Medicago sativa constructed in our lab, nodulin-1 was isolated and partially characterised. The nucleotide sequence showed that this gene contains several introns. The function of nodulin-1 in symbiotic nitrogen fixation is not known at present.